The US dollar rose against most currencies on Thursday, lifted by upbeat US economic data.

The US Department of Labor revealed that the number of initial unemployment claims was at 332K last week from 325K, lower than forecasts of 332K.

The US retail sales index rose 0.7% in August, beating forecasts of a drop by 0.7%.

The core retail sales reading (excluding food and fuel prices) rose 1.8%, beating forecasts of a drop by 0.1%.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has ordered an examination of the Fed's ethics rules around investments of central bank officials to avoid financial conflicts of interest.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.4% to 92.9 points as of 17:16 GMT, after hitting a high of 92.9 points and a low of 92.4 points.

At 12:30 GMT, the US economy released its reading for the retail sales index , which fell 0.7% in August, beating forecasts of drop by 0.7%, and better than the previous reading of a drop by 1.8% after it was revised from 1.1%. 

The core reading (excluding car sales) rose 1.8%, beating forecasts of 0.1%, while the previous reading was at -1%. This data is positive for the US economy. 

At 12:30 GMT, the US Department of Labor showed that the unemployment claims were at 332K during the week ending in September 10, worse than forecasts of 325K, and worse than the previous reading of 312K. This data is negative for the US dollar.

US stock indices fell in early trading on Thursday, despite the release of positive retail sales data.

The US Department of Labor revealed that the number of initial unemployment claims was at 332K last week from 325K, lower than forecasts of 332K.

The US retail sales index rose 0.7% in August, beating forecasts of a drop by 0.7%.

The core retail sales reading (excluding food and fuel prices) rose 1.8%, beating forecasts of a drop by 0.1%.

As for stocks, Dow Jones fell 0.5% or 166 points to 34,654 as of 14:24 GMT, and S&P 500 fell 0.6% or 26 points to 4,454, while Nasdaq fell 0.6% or 89 point to 15,072.